After Gemini
by gatehead81
Summary: Set a few weeks after S8:E11 'Gemini' where the Replicator Sam escaped through the gate. Carter is still beating herself up and Jack is determined to bring her out of herself. So far every tactic he has tried has failed, maybe straight up honesty is the way to go. S/J Friendship; H/Comfort. K Rated.


**AN: Another one-shot, unedited and only read once, will fix mistakes tomorrow as kinda too tired to do it now...enjoy...oh and if you can think of a better title let me know because I'm stumped on this one...**

**Summary: Set a few weeks after S8:E11 'Gemini' where the Replicator Sam escaped through the gate. Carter is still beating herself up and Jack is determined to bring her out of herself. So far every tactic he has tried has failed, maybe straight up honesty is the way to go. S/J Friendship; H/Comfort. K+ Rated.**

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AFTER GEMINI

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Jack sighed as he noticed something on the security monitor. She was back. She was not supposed to be, he had ordered her to go home and get some rest but here she was, not four hours later, on level 19 in her lab, squirreling away and still punishing herself. "Not your fault Carter." he muttered to the screen for the umpteenth time in the last two weeks. Man how he wish he had not been forced to ground them till the inquiry was over. Sure, when she and Teal'c first got back he had been more than mad at her but his anger had quickly dissipated once Teal'c had filled him in on what actually happened. Sam Carter could never have seen that one coming, she was way to loyal to anticipate such callous behaviour from an entity that contained so much of herself...no-one could have seen that sucker-punch coming. And then the big dogs had come down hard on her, demanding that an investigation be launched into her conduct...like that had ever truly been in question, lousy good for nothing...

He had been trying ever since that happened to talk to her and make her feel better but nothing was getting through, she had even snapped at him telling him to 'get the hell out.' He had felt himself inordinately patient in his response to that little outburst. But enough was enough, Sam Carter was not going to be allowed to mope about and punish herself anymore, especially now that she knew she had been cleared of any wrongdoing.

If he had to, he would straight up order her to get over it. Tonight was the night this all ended and they put this miserable chapter to bed. Determined that his cause should be won Jack O'Neill left his office bound for Carter's lab.

oOo

Sam was about to cry. It was unusual to say the least but the frustration was getting the better of her. If only she could crack this, then she could leave it alone. If she could just figure out how the Replicator pieces had been deactivated then they would have learned something new and maybe the General would truly forgive her for her mistake. He said there was nothing to forgive but that just was not true.

At the inquiry they had told her that as a seasoned soldier she should have known better and they had been right. She knew what Replicators were capable of and should have realised that the Replicator version of herself had just been playing her.

_"Fifth was pathetic."_

Those words, said in her own voice, played themselves out over and over in her head day and night. It was in that moment that she recognised the full extent of what she had done. That impatience, that anger, that disdain. She knew it all too well, she knew that place, those qualities were her own and the Replicator had tapped into them to punish her. She set down her tools, and boy had it worked. "Pathetic." she uttered, directing the word at herself this time. "Totally pathetic, Carter, she used you."

"Ahem." Jack cleared his throat from the doorway.

Sam spun round and looked at him. Very briefly Jack noticed her face and it clearly said 'Not again, can't you just leave me alone.' then it was gone leaving Jack wondering if he had seen it at all. "Sorry Sir, I didn't see you there."

"I know." Jack offered casually. He leaned against the door frame, his arms wrapped defensively around himself. "I thought I told you to go home?" he voiced with an air of almost authority.

"Um, I did go home, but...now I'm back." She threw her hands up in the air in a sarcastic shrug. "Guess I just can't stay away, huh?" She turned her back so he would not see the unchecked emotions that passed across her features.

Jack spoke slowly. "So it would seem..." He felt his lip twitch a little in self-doubt, what would be the best approach? "Carter..." he started and stepped into the room.

"Sir, please." she interrupted, her eyes closed. She was not sure she could take another of his attempts to cheer her up. "I just need to work on this." she told him and made her way back over to her bench where she stared absently at the small metal pieces.

O'Neill walked his way around the room and strategically placed himself against the back wall. There he waited for her to speak again. She had beaten down every argument that he had come up with from 'You could never have known.' to 'She's not you.' This time that would not happen.

As the silence extended Sam found herself looking up at the General. "Sir?" she asked but he just shook his head, telling her he had nothing to say. Well what was he doing here then? Slightly annoyed she returned to staring down the scope, knowing that she would see nothing new there. The image of those little metal shards was burned into her mind.

For a full five minutes Sam tried to ignore him, but Jack could see that his tactic was winning out, patience always was a good card to play with Carter. For all her brilliance, waiting was not something she was good at, not when it came to elephants and emotions and so he was going to win this time, she would not be able to ignore his unasked question for much longer.

"Okay, fine, I'll tell you." she blurted out, setting the dish aside. Sam knew her anger was showing through and she tried to curb it. "If I can just get this one thing figured out then I can begin to get passed this. If I can just salvage one thing from this situation then I know I can start to find a way to fix all this." She looked up at him trying hard to believe her own words, he did not react. "I mean, what more do you want from me?" She had not meant for that to sound accusatory but it was, once again she turned away.

"That's just it Carter...I want_ less_ from you."

She turned back round to face him, she did not understand. "Sir?"

"Come round this side of the table would you?" he ordered gently and she complied. "Carter, you work day and night for this place. You've dedicated your whole life to this cause and I get that I totally do, but enough is enough."

Sam stared, unblinking at her CO, what was he saying to her?

"Let it go Sam." Jack reached out and took her hand. "Even you can't win them all." He looked deep into her eyes.

"But Sir..."

"Ah, ah." he voiced mildly. "The Repli-Carter had all of your brains and none of your heart."

"Repli-Carter?"

"Yeah, Repli-Carter, and that's a bad combination."

"It is?"

"Yes it is." He looked down at their linked hands. "You see, it's not your brains that enables you to do what you do."

"It's not?" Sam was getting more and more confused by the moment.

"I mean don't get me wrong, your honking genius comes in real handy from time to time but it's your passion that makes you who you are." He paused as he stumbled over his own words. "And that...machine, ain't got nothing on you when it comes to that kind of stuff." Sam shook her head, clearly not wanting to listen so he brought things back onto her level. "You said in your report that it told you that it 'knew what you were going to do before you thought of it'." she nodded. "But there is no way no how it could ever do that."

"It knew I was going to overload the generators." Sam argued weakly.

"Oh please, even I knew you were going to do that! You think that makes her smart? No, not a chance Sam, that's like the most obvious course of action ever!"

Sam could not quite bring herself to smile but what he was saying did make some sort of sense. "But what about the disengaging of the pieces?"

Jack let go of her hand in favour of scrubbing his face. "Oh hell I don't know Carter, that's your theory. Maybe she did not even do that knowing that you would think she did...but that's not the point. The point is everything that's great about you comes from in here." He knocked his chest with his fist. Sam blinked at him. "Everything you have ever achieved is channelled through your heart. You think Repli-Carter would have taken the time to blow up a sun to save a planet, or, or kicked butt at the Loop of Kon Garat for the last two years – which still freaks me out every time you do it by the way – or take the time to save an alien child, or..." and he paused before he made his final point. "Would be standing here tirelessly trying to fix a mistake that she didn't make in the first place?"

Jack stared at her for a moment, it seemed that maybe he was getting through, it spurned him on. "Don't you remember, right at the very beginning, when we were walking up the ramp together for the first time that you told me that I would like you when I got to know you? Well guess what Carter, I did get to know you and I do like you." He stepped a little closer. "But it's _you_ I like Sam...all of you. And that...thing...out there doesn't stand a chance when we've got you on our side. It's all cold and heartless and pure logic...and what's the one thing about logic that you really like so much, hmm? What have you told me countless times about science and proofs and logical thought patterns?"

Sam smiled. "That they are relatively safe because they are predictable."

"Exactly." Jack cocked his head a little to view her face better. "Logic may help you plot a clear and distinctive path, but on it's own it doesn't work. You need passion, with that comes the creativity to really succeed...and you've got a heck of a lot of passion Carter." She had abashedly ducked her head so he place a gentle finger under her chin. "Without your passion we would not be where we are today. It really is that simple."

"You really think so?" Sam choked out, she was misting up, this was a boat load of emotion coming from the General and it really touched her that he would be willing to put himself out there like that for her.

"Of course I do!" He ran his hands down from her shoulders to her elbows. "No doubt at all in my mind."

Sam sniffed a little. "But I couldn't have done any of it without all of you guys."

"You see." Jack smiled. "That's another thing we've got in our corner. It's not like there's a Repli-Daniel, or a Repli-Teal'c out there to help her out is there? Or a Repli-me!"

"Oh I hope not!"

"You hope there's no Repli-me out there? Because personally I could do without another version of Daniel being out there."

Sam's face shone bright for a moment but fell again as his words sunk in. "To be honest Sir, I wish there was no Repli-anybody out there. We should have just killed her when we had the chance..."

Jack sighed, this could go on and on all night long. "Okay, I hear you and I agree with you but I'm going to tell you this one more time Sam. Enough! We will sort this out, have a little faith, we are SG-1...and that means..."

"...Nothing is impossible." she nodded as she finished one of their more favoured sentences.

"Exactly." Jack squeezed her arm. "Now. I think I'm gonna break the rules a little here...our rules that is and give you a hug, okay?"

Sam's head bobbed and she looked almost expectantly at him.

"Good." he said and pulled her close in what was meant to be a brief tight hug. "Feeling better?" he asked still holding onto her.

"Much, thank you Sir."

"Any time. Now what say we get you packed off to bed, you look exhausted, and I need you in top condition for tomorrow's mission."

Sam pulled back to look him in the eye. "We have a mission tomorrow?" That was news to her.

Jack shrugged "Um yeah, why not. SG-3 were supposed to take it but they are scheduled for some downtime and you guys have been grounded for long enough. Time to get atop the porcine again don't you think?"

Cater laughed "Equine, Sir. I really don't think I fancy getting on top of a pig, do you?"

"Ri-ight, of course, that's what I meant." Jack bluffed. Sam knew he was fully aware of Teal'c's latest favourite saying was but was playing along and that was a good thing. If she was willing to rise to his banter again she was already on the road to becoming her old self and that was all that Jack wanted. "So you want blue Jell-o before you turn in or is two am too late for something like that?" he asked her as he walked her out of her lab and away from the memories of that god-awful Replicator and the mission she seen as a failure but was not. Sure they might have lost the fight this time but the battle was far from over and like the Goa'uld soon would be the Replicators would one day be obliterated even from the memories of all life in the universe. Ha, take that stupid shiny metal bugs!

END

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**AN: So another little one shot down, let me know what you think would ya?**


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